Reviews by shivtim:

Poured this one out into a pint glass.
Rich red rust in color. Very clear. Small but sticky off-white head on top.
Nose is hops and lemon zest. Citrusy with some ethanol on the end.
Taste is hops; more lingering west coast hops. A bit chemical-ey. More ethanol. Kind of harsh. This one reaches a little too far.
Overall it's ok, but I wouldn't come back to it.

More User Reviews:

A friend of mine here in Greensboro thinks this beer is the one all be all and shared a bottle with me Sunday night.Poured into a standard pint glass a deep clear amber/bronze with a half finger slight off white head atop,great clarity and hue to the beer.Whoo man the aromas are borderline harsh,just wicked resin with a bit of caramel base but the hop onslaught is wicked in not such a good way.The 168 IBU's is just overkill on the palate,its dry as all get out and bitter to the hilt,wicked pine resin and alcohol make you wanna grab a glass of water and chug it.Iam a full on hophead but this is overkill to the umteenth degree,sorry Brian I told ya I liked it but man that stuff is harsh.

Appearance – This is a beautiful, dark, brownish-orange in color with a gorgeous white head that left some great lacing and cool pits on top of the liquid.

Smell – This is as good as a DIPA can smell. The hops are a perfect blend of pine, citrus, and light leaf. There’s a little extra something though in the hop profile. Maybe it’s just the extraordinary balance, but the pine-citrus aroma is in a class all by itself. It forms this funky, pungent, floral aroma that is so resiny that it makes your mouth water. Literally.

The malt backbone is no slouch, either. The caramel is rich and sugary and plays well with the big hop profile. There’s a big yeast toasty aroma as well which manages to again mate perfectly with the hops. This is a symphony for sure.

Taste – The hoppy floral character mixes perfectly with the super-sugary malts. This could not be a better balancing act. The hops are fresh, resiny, and laced with citrusy goodness and the malts, heavily toasted, supply a yeasty, biscuity structure that really is the only possible flavor that could play well with the hops. This is big beer flavors perfectly balanced.

Mouthfeel – This is full-bodied, very slick and oily in between the cheeks, with a moderate dryness, somewhat bitter, and incredibly pleasing in the mouth. The carbs are just enough to give this a fluffy feel. The bitterness is complex and equality contributed by the malts and hops. Again the balance here is the key.

Drinkability – For my money this is one of the best, easy-drinking big DIPAs that I’ve ever had. It is so big and so powerful yet perfectly balanced. I enjoyed the big malt balance but again it’s not malt-leaning by any stretch. They just did an awesome job of mixing the best hop profile imaginable with the best malt profile imaginable. I hate to give a beer a 5.0 and say it can’t get any better but this beer really just couldn’t be any better.

A: Amber color, slightly hazy, with a medium-sized off-white head that leaves a decent amount of lacings.

S: Lots of grapefruits and other aromas of tropical fruits. Pine-needles and caramel.

T: The grapefruits come of very strong in the taste as well. Quite a lot of other aromas of tropical fruits combined with a rather prominent caramel maltiness makes this one rather sweet in the mouth. Notes of pine-needles and grass. The finish is really bitter with plenty of hop resins.

M: Medium body, slightly sticky texture.

D: A good DIPA. The excessive amounts of hops and big bitterness are in constant risk of collapsing into a bittersweet mess, but in general I do believe the beer manages quite well.

Manalishi starts the epic stink as soon as you open the bottle, and as you let it sit and drink it slowly over the course of an hour, it really develops into something interesting. A dark and beautiful amber color with a nice thick and quickly dissipating head reveals a brew with a syrupy mouthfeel which accompanies the malts. But of course, this brew is all about the enormous amounts of Hops, and this jam delivers a huge bouquet of stank grapefruits and some pine as well. Malty and sweet up front, hoppy all the way through, and lingering on the tongue, this is what I like in a DIPA -- complexity and extremity. I scored a few other Hoppin' Frog beers which I will definitely be writing up, and between my first Bell's last night and my first Hoppin' Frog tonight, my recent beer haul is already looking outrageous.

Picked this up in Lakewood Rozi's when I visited Cleveland. Thanks to Coreyroz and the OH BA's for the local brew advice. I am really developing a taste for IPA's. The Doubles/Imperials are pretty extreme but I would rank this as "operation shock and awe".

A: Nice clean creamy cap. Started collapsing in the middle leaving some very nice lacing. Thin bubbly head stayed with me throughout. Liquid is a slightly hazy bronze color. Very little carbonation visible.

S: Good wallop of fresh, grassy, floral hops. Very citrusy, grapefruity with a touch of dishsoap.

T: This was a really pronounced and consistent taste progression. It started with a sweet caramel malt, moved swiftly into a sweet/sour grapefruit citrus and ends with a very aggressive fresh floral hop ending. Just as you think the hops don't have any mercy, the maltiness comes back to dial it back to a manageable bitterness for the mere mortal. Enjoyable for anyone who enjoys some extreme hop action. I have to admit that I enjoyed it more as it warmed up and the malt had more influence. A tad soapy.

D: I find myself astounded by the aggressiveness of some IPA's these days and yet I find myself drinking them at speed. Does this mean that a malt man is becoming a hop head too? Maybe. The more I enjoy them, the more I enjoy the occasional assault on the senses. While this was aggressive, I found it quite drinkable and totally forgot the ABV. I recommend giving this a try and I am pleased that I had the opportunity to support a small local brewer. Hop on!

Strange set of flavor. Not much malt. Some hop type flavor intialy that I cant place. Quite earthly, almost sweet. I like it. I dare not call it grassy, but something nice. Pine finish, with some pale dryness.

Might be a little malt deficient, but not sure I can detract here. Heat is a little high, considering ABV, tastes like it could be an 11.

Id love one of these. With the different hop boquest than Im used to, im not sure how many I could have. I would definately have this again, just not sure the hop character is ideal for me.

Pours a turbid, dark, leathery copper colored brew with tons of particles in suspension, and it's kind of freaky looking as it doesn't move. Great head though ... off-white, super creamy and sticky. But man, all of that sediment is kind of off-putting.

Smooth, medium-bodied on the palate with an intense smackdown of hops on the palate. Sharp citric acids, lemon, lime, big grapefruit, pine, grassy, coarse and resiny. Scorched leaves and ash. Some cheese and soap too. Super astringent. Puckering. As for the malts, there's a touch of caramel and bread, but it's pretty much stomped to death by the crazy and out of control hop presence. Finish is bone dry, bitter, rough and astringent.

I'm a hophead, but I think this is overkill. 168IBU. Why bother? That's past the human threshold. A waste of hops. There's absolutely no balance (yes, there can be balance within the style) and it's hard to get down the throat. It's like drinking a handful of hops dropped into a pint glass of brew, and anyone who has ever attempted this can attest that this is not overly pleasant.

The beer looks good to me: thick, frothy head atop a bronzed, tan liquid. As the foam sinks into my glass, thick lacing makes its mark on the sides. Light just makes it thru this one. The foamy top actually causes me some concern--big bubbles with semi-solid lacing have historically left me with an over-the-top alcohol bomb lacking substantive flavor. I hope this one proves different.

The smell is definitely hoppy, but the aformentioned concern actually rises to my nose as I inhale this one--I smell the alcohol. It's a DIPA so I know I should, but it's as if I smell alcohol more distinctively than I smell the hops. The alcohol aroma is not overwhelming like a 120 or anything, but it's present in an 8.2%er more than I would like.

My fears are confirmed on the very first sip. It's not so much the alcohol that's overpowering--actually nothing about the beer is overpowering. In fact, it's bland. The hops are bitter...bitter like baking soda. I had zero preconceived notions about this one. Unfamiliar with the brewery and everything, I just grabbed this beer off the shelf at Green's in Greenville and hoped I'd discovered something special. I haven't seen any Hoppin' Frog around my parts, and I was cautiously optimistic about this one. I'm very disappointed. I shared a Valdez last night and didn't review it. I really wanted to praise this beer in this review. Unfortunately, it's just another bitter collection of hops lacking character. I disagree totally with the "toasty, caramelized, intense malt presence" marketed on the label. Maybe the malts make it look good and tanned, but I feel sunburned.

Mouthfeel is blah like the taste, but the hops do evidence themselves more comfortably as the beverage rests in my mouth. The aftertaste is subpar. When I pulled up Hoppin' Frog to review this beer, I saw the BORIS and recognized it as a respected beer. Maybe that gave me false hope about what I thought would be a delicious hop-bomb. The mouthfeel, particularly for a DIPA, is dull.

What can I say? I'd share it with friends (though I'd secretly be wanting them to confirm my opinion that the beer is blah), but only as a filler between winners. That's not even average in my book. I'm eager to try another one from Hoppin' Frog (preferably BORIS), but it'll probably be a while before I ante up for this bomber again.

The appearance is a tricky one, at one point my pint showed a clear reddish amber color but after about 8-10oz poured out the particles on the bottom of the bottle rushes into the rest of the liquid. Now its cloudy, nearly turbid with small bits of sediment that does not want to settle to the bottom of the glass. Half decent head retention.

Big pungent and sharp hoppy aroma of the rind from a fresh peeled grapfruit, spearmint and wild flowers with a hint of caramel malt in the back of the nose.

Sharp bitterness from the hops cuts deep, luckily it has a lot to cut through. Creamy full body with a solid maltiness that screams caramel and a little bit of toasted malt. All of the malt gets beat back down and the drying hop bitterness takes over. Grapefruit peel, tobacco and black tea from the hops. Finishes dry and overly bitter and astringent.

168 IBUs ... hmmm, your tasted buds can only handle about 80 IBUs so this is aiming for overkill and that is what it ends up being. Its so hoppy that it masks the mildly solvent alcohol for the most part. Keep the sediment out, tone down the bitterness and focus on more hop flavor and this would be a great DIPA. Great to try once but this ends up being a taste bud killer.

22 oz bottle pours a hazy rusty orange/brown body with a medium beige head. Nice lacing. Aroma is sharp and pungent leafy hops. Citrus rind and pine, with a faint hint of burnt caramel. Medium body with plenty of carbonation and some oily hop resin. Taste is all about the hops. Pine, grapefruit, and citrus rind. Resinous hop bitterness from start to finish. Just a vague hint of malt sweetness. Bet there are plenty of IBU's in this one. A hop monster for the hopheads. A bit over the top for me.

22 ounce bomber, no freshness info. Pours a nice warm shade of almond amber, kind of murky, under a pretty dark tan tiny bubble head and leaving gobs of fine and slippery lacing. Nice citric and resinous hoppy nose. Full flavor ale, plenty of hope bite, yet not over the top, malts well represented and providing a comforting blanket of smooth and dark toasty support. Nice stuff, well crafted. At $10.65 however (yeah I know I bought it in Massachusetts) I'd rather go for two bottles of something like Ruination...

The smell is a warm, dank bouquet of floral hops, with just subtle pine and grapefruit. The hops are omnipresent and aggressive, but not as overwhelming like some DIPA. The flavor begins with a nutty, slightly buttery, then they dry out a bit more, getting some what phenolic with a hint of malt, then the finale features brighter, more piquant, citrus-tinged hops, before a dry finish that slides into the warm buzz of alcohol.

It's full-bodied and maybe could use a bit more carbonation. It possesses good complexity and has enough going on to offset the hop barrage. It's actually somewhat delicate for a DIPA, in a good way. Recommended.

Rich flavors of balanced malt and hops. Fairly even mix of honey malt and grapefruit pith upfront, then a wave of bitterness rolls in, lots of pine and grapefruit and the malt is pushed beneath. Very bitter, but very tasty. A bit of alcohol vapor up the back of the nose, and a gradual warming of the cheeks.

Even mouthfeel, prtty full and creamy. Pretty drinkable, hopheads should enjoy this one.